I am writing from the warmth of my porch to show you a typical day of Lacy Davis eats and talk to you about nutrient timing.

As a person who is excessively interested in all things health and wellness related, I am constantly presented with different (and opposing!) theories of how to eat for best health and “best” body composition. (I don’t think there is a best body composition, but I am going to use the phrase for ease of communication.) Nutrient timing is a theory that has been around for quite some time- so long, in fact that people are actually starting to produce studies against it, which is when you know a theory really has clout.

SO, here is the nitty-gritty: nutrient timing is a nutritional strategy that involves eating certain macronutrients at certain times for maximized muscle growth and fuel usage. Certain combinations of nutrients–primarily protein and carbohydrate–are to be consumed primarily around workouts and limited elsewhere.

There’s flaws in this theory (vegetables are carbohydrates, and those clearly should be consumed whenever), but many people that I know have used this strategy and liked the results. When there is a lot of back and forth around a subject, and it doesn’t seem particularly damaging, I think it makes most sense to try it out for myself, which is what I have been doing for the past 6 or 7 months.

For me, nutrient timing is essentially this:

Complex carbs for breakfast, fast digesting carbs and protein post workout, veggies with protein and a little carbs for lunch, protein and veggies for snack, protein and veggies for dinner, fat and protein for snack. Basically, my day is like a wave: carbs, then protein, then fat. (which is not to say that any of my meals lack ANY of these macronutrients. The wave simply illustrates what macronutrient is FAVORED at what time.)

The nutrient timing story says that post exercise is the most critical part of the theory, and that proper nutrients around exercise both rebuild damaged muscle tissue and restore energy reserves. As you can see, carbs are favored around my workouts, which might be surprising to some. For many years, I had a post workout protein shake with Vega Sport Protein Powder and unsweetened almond milk. Now I know that the lack of carbs may mean that I wasn’t giving my body ALL of what it needed after a workout. Adding a banana to that mix makes the shake much more optimal.

Post workout I had a smoothie with a banana, some strawberries, one scoop True Nutrition Pea Protein Powder in cake batter flavor (!!!) and some almond milk. It is worth noting that I used to love avocado in smoothies, but these days I know that fat inhibits protein absorption, so I keep my post-workout versions fat-free-ish.

My last (and favorite) meal of the day was a protein waffle (made from scratch and extremely low carb) with peanut butter on top. The best time of the day is peanut butter time, and I don’t care who knows it.

So what are the results of nutrient timing for me so far? Well, I am definitely leaner. My metabolism feels like its totally revved, I have a ton of energy, and my muscles are popping. But is this BECAUSE of the nutrient timing? Or is it the switch up of workouts I’ve had in the past few months? Maybe its the increased raw food intake, or my emphasis on veggies? The problem with taking results of self-regulated experiments as fact is simply that there are so many individual variables that it is honestly impossible to certainly come to a conclusion. I will say I am loving my body, my fitness, and my routine as of late, so I am going to keep doing what I’m doing until its no longer palatable.

Have you tried nutrient timing? Do you think it’s a worthwhile protocol?

Finally, after who-the-hell-knows how long, I feel good again. Yesterday I went on a run that didn’t feel like death, last night I went out to a show, today I plan to, you know, go to meetings and be the business woman I am trying to be. SUCCESS. God, illness blows.

Here are some of the links that got me through the low points this week:

This blog is awesome. It is written by a ten year old vegan girl, and it is her project for Vegan MoFo. Basically, she takes pictures of her meals, and calculates the amount of protein she gets in a day. The numbers show that she is well within a healthy range of protein consumption for her weight and height, literally without trying. #wheredoyougetyourprotein myth, you can go to hell!

This issue of Definition is focused on POWERLIFTING, which I fucking love. The ladies contained within are unbridled badasses, and I love love love these cover girls. It’s a free download, so check it out!

Nicole gives great advice on seriously pretty much every topic. In this column, she dishes some real talk to an ailing reader in a loving, serious, cute, and direct way. Nicole manages to say what she feels with a hell of a lot of zest, and I only hope that some day I can be as up front as her, with all the poise that she keeps in tact.

Sometimes you have to make an animated GIF of yourself doing a dumbbell snatch in a hotel gym. That’s a fact I learned this week.

Anyway.

Good Morning! I’m back to talk about my last few workouts with you today! As you may recall, the goal of my workouts this week was to incorporate more weight lifting, as last week was cardio dense, with no real rhyme or reason. This week I was awesome at meeting that goal, and pretty great at just getting active at all, especially considering the fact that I was traveling.

I have been thinking a lot about my relationship with exercise in the past couple of weeks, how I used to do it because I thought I had to, and how I used it to disconnect from my body and to fight it. Things have changed for me and my exercise, SO deeply. It was great to be in the gym all last week and with every lift and sprint, I felt deeply connected to my body, like it was a miracle to have strength after what I put my body through in my early 20’s, and like my opportunity to sweat was something that filled me with gratitude.

Every step is a gift. Every opportunity to tap into my body with sweat is something I earned through eating enough to fuel myself, and relentlessly fighting the shithead in my brain that has told me I am not good enough. I am super happy to be on my body’s team.

I got really deep with my body this week. It’s a good place to be.

So, enough talk. here are the workouts.

Monday: 20 rep 95 pound backsquat, then 20 Push Press, 20 Power Cleans, 20 Overhead Squats, 20 Deadlifts, 20 Front Squats with 3 burpees at the top of every minute- for time. I got 11:55 and used 55 pounds for my weight.

Tuesday: Hmm. I worked out Tuesday, I know I did. I just cannot for the life of me remember what I did. DAMNIT. I think it involved backsquats!

Friday: Yet another rest day! I left at breakfast, traveled by train, shuttle, airplane, another airplane, and another shuttle and arrived in beautiful Santa Fe around dinner time. I was greeted by a gaggle of people I haven’t seen in just about forever (more people should get married, it’s a totally convenient way to get all your friends scattered across the nation in one spot for a vegan dinner) and dove into a sweet potato and lentil shepherd’s pie before sleeping the sleep of Lacy Davis during any movie ever (which is to say I fell asleep immediately, and slept soundly).

Saturday: One mile run. 21-15-9 reps of the dumbbell clean & jerk (30 pounds) and sit ups, with a 400 meter run in between each set.